Russian Defence Minister General of the Army Sergei Shoigu Holds Teleconference with Leadership of Armed Forces

(Source: Russian Ministry of Defence; issued Feb 05, 2019)

In a rather grandiose setting, Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu (top, center), flanked by senior military chiefs, held a teleconference to discuss recent developments with the leadership of the armed forces. (RU MoD photo)

Today the National Centre for State Defence Control in Moscow hosted another teleconference of Defence Ministry chaired by the General of the Army Sergei Shoigu.

When opening the session, the Minister of Defence recalled that from February 2, the United States of America suspended the fulfillment of its obligations under the INF Treaty.

At the same time, the United States is actively working to create land-based missiles with a firing range of more than 500 km, beyond the limits provided by the Treaty, the head of the Russian Defence Ministry said.

In this regard, the President of Russia has set the task of the Ministry of Defenсe to take mirror measures in response.

The General Staff presented to the Supreme Commander a list of the activities that he approved.

“During the years 2019-2020, we need to develop a ground-based version of the Caliber sea-based complex with a long-range cruise missile, which has proven itself in Syria,” General of the Army Sergei Shoigu said. “At that time we shall also create a ground-based missile system with a long-range hypersonic rocket.”

Sea-based and air-launched missiles will significantly reduce the production time of the new missile weapons and its funding.

In addition, it is important to increase the firing range of the ground-based missile systems being developed today.

“I instruct the Deputy Minister of Defence Alexei Yuryevich Krivoruchko to launch relevant development work within the framework of funds allocated for state defence orders for 2019 and the planned period 2020–2021 by redistributing funds for the implementation of these works,” the head of the military department ordered.

The next issue on the agenda concerned elimination of the effects of the landslide at the Bureya reservoir.

As General of the Army Sergei Shoigu noted, the strongest landslide that occurred in December in the Khabarovsk Territory caused a large rock mass collapse, and as a result, a part of the reservoir of the Bureyskaya HPP was blocked. A number of settlements were under the threat of flooding during the spring floods.

The President of the Russian Federation instructed to attract the forces and means of the Ministry of Defence to clear the Bureya reservoir.

To address this complex task, an operational group was created under the leadership of Deputy Defence Minister General of the Army Dmitry Bulgakov.

As the head of the military department emphasized, in less than a day, a self-sufficient group was formed, which included material, technical and medical support units, engineering troops and signal troops of the Eastern Military District.

In total, more than 400 military personnel are involved, as well as about 30 pieces of military and special equipment, including manned and unmanned aircraft.

Significant amounts of ammunition and explosives were used.

According to the Minister of Defence, despite the most difficult climatic conditions and the lack of transport infrastructure, the jam has been eliminated successfully.

At present the hydraulic connection between upper and lower parts of the Bureya reservoir has been recovered. Full scope of work is planned to be completed by February 20.

The thematic part of the meeting began with a discussion of the development of spacecraft.

According to the Minister of Defence, recently, satellite reconnaissance and navigation systems have played a significant role in the country's military security.

Experience acquired in Syria shows that detailed reconnaissance and cartographic information is necessary for the effective use of high-precision weapons. Such data can be obtained only with the help of modern satellites capable of shooting the Earth’s surface with high resolution.

Therefore, the Ministry of Defence is actively involved in improving the orbital group of military spacecraft.

Then Sergei Shoigu moved to review the progress of the Armata development work.

This promising tracked platform, which is being developed by Uralvagonzavod Research and Production Corporation, allows you to create the latest weapons, military and special equipment.

"We will discuss during the meeting how the work is carried out and challenging issues are addressed", the Defence Minister concluded.